Dr Pier and his team began their work by looking at cells cultured from a cystic-fibrosis patient.

ECONOMIST: Cystic fibrosis and typhoid fever

She then saw a TV report about researchers in Liverpool looking at the role of immune cells called NK cells in recurrent miscarriage.

BBC: NEWS | Health | 'I thank the steroid for my baby'

In December, it completed a merger with Aclara Biosciences, which is looking at differences between normal and cancer cells to determine which signaling pathways a cancer cell is exploiting for replication.

FORBES: Pioneering Personalized Medicine

Instead scientists and doctors are looking deeper at what is going wrong inside cancerous cells - a tumour can have 100, 000 genetic mutations and these alter over time.

BBC: Mass cancer mapping centre opens